Songs of Tortall
by claire of queenscove
Summary: AKA The IPod Shuffle Challenge. 10 drabbles...a little bit for everyone. A/J, D/N, AlanII/LianneII, N/Y, K/D, A/N, and a few others.


Songs of Tortall or "The IPod Shuffle Challenge"

**Challenge: Turn your ITunes on shuffle. Write drabbles for the first 10 songs, with the only time allotted being the duration of the song. **

1. Miranda Lambert – "I Wanna Die"

_Why is this so complicated?_ Alanna of Trebond glared at her knightmaster who stood on the other side of the room holding a very…scandalous pair of undergarments.

"Where did you find those?" she finally shot out, her voice angry and loud.

"Why my valiant Squire Alan, I found them in a certain locked trunk at the foot of your bed." The look on his face was truly exasperating. "Luckily for me, I'm an excellent detective and found the key." His eyes glinted with suppressed laughter. "Now why would you be harboring these? Better question, why haven't you shown them to me sooner?"

Alanna's already crimson face blushed even deeper. "For your information, you pompous prat of a sneaking, thieving – "

The rest of her sentence was cut off as the lithe nobleman crossed the room in a few strides and covered her mouth with a passionate kiss.

_Well if he's going to be the death of me, there's no better way to die_.

2. Third Eye Blind – "Never Let You Go"

"You are so infuriating, do you know that? Really, gallivanting off with the King's Own to rescue an entire village without telling me is simply too much. This is the second time this month," whined a tall, dark, handsome mage.

"But darling, I had such little notice and you were sleeping quite soundly," shot back his consort. "I thought I'd be back before supper, I really am sorry to have worried you."

He almost gave in to her stormy gray eyes, but his wounded pride was not yet sated. "I've had enough. We're over. I can't handle your flippant way of treating me. I'm going to find some court lady who appreciates what I can offer her and won't leave me for every opportunity to save a life or two."

"Numair, stop acting so childish. You would never, ever, leave me."

"Oh really? How do you know?" he shot back, one eyebrow raised.

"I have my ways of knowing," Daine replied coyly as she glided across the room, covering the distance between them with the grace of a cat. "Like this for instance," and with that she was covering his agape mouth with her own, leaving him with the conviction that, no, he would never really be able to let her go.

3. Carrie Underwood – "Some Hearts" 

Lianne had the worst luck with men. Most were too frightened of her father's wrath to even approach her, and the ones who did were most often old, ugly, inappropriate, or all three. But there was one… Sighing and pushing that thought out of her mind, she sat down in the library with a dusty tome in her neatly manicured hands.

Spotting her, Alan made his way through rows of books until, quite suddenly, he swept her up in his arms and planted a loving kiss on her surprised lips.

Laughing with joy, Lianne threw her arms around his broad shoulders. "When did you get back? I thought you would never return to me," she pouted melodramatically.

"What can I say? When two are as lucky as we, the gods could never ordain it for us to be apart for too terribly long."

Smiling, and with all thoughts of her book abandoned, Lianne lost herself in his warm embrace.

4. The Perishers – "Trouble Sleeping"

Neal stared at the ceiling in despair. He was never going to get to bed. Yuki had left with a Yamani envoy for a visit home before their impending wedding. He didn't think that her absence would affect him the way it had. He had hardly slept in the last three days, and to be honest, it was the thing furthest from his mind.

They had left one another on a sour note. He had been complaining about something or other as per usual, probably vegetables, and she had broken her usually calm Yamani mask to tell him to shut up. Neal? Shut up? Surely she knew better by now. But alas, he had stubbornly refused to apologize and she had left the next morning with hardly a word spoken between them. Now, reports were flooding the capitol of pirate raids all along the western coast. If anything happened to her he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He wouldn't be able to eat, to sleep, to fight, to heal, to function in any way. He was not whole without her.

Sighing, he made his way to the liquor cabinet and, after a moment of hesitation, poured himself a double malt scotch on the rocks. Maybe tonight he would get some sleep after all, troubled or not.

5. Yellowcard – "Powder" 

Jasson, the youngest male. The smallest, weakest boy in the family. The forgotten son. He hated his father for being overbearing, stupid, and pompous. He hated his older brothers for stealing all the knightly glory. He hated his sisters for being beautiful, vain, and vapid. He hated everyone, really.

Thanking and paying the cloaked figure at the edge of Corus, he rode his horse as fast as he could to The Rowdy Dog, his seedy tavern of choice, and waving brusquely at the barkeep, he went upstairs.

Laying out a line of the white powder on the desktop, he sighed. For the thousandth time in the last year, he thought about what a bad idea this was before kneeling to inhale the translucent dust.

The last thing he saw before entering sweet oblivion was a portrait in his mind of the Royal family – sans himself.

6. Micky and the Motorcars – Careless

_Dear Keladry, _

_I'm sorry, but you and I both know we can't continue this farce. It's for the best; I hope you understand. _

_Regards, _

_Domitan_

A feeling – was it sorrow? regret? – gripped Dom as he signed the letter. He would have to send it off with the messenger first thing in the morning or he wouldn't have the guts to do it.

Lord Raoul had sat him down and explicitly (and graphically) told him exactly what he thought of his and Kel's relationship. If he wanted to be Commander one day, he had to end things now. Raoul had made that much clear. Crystal clear.

Dom loved Kel, as much as he was capable of loving anyone. However, he loved his career more. He had too; it was all had had, really. Looking back, he had probably led her on a little too much, had been a little too careless with the heart she had placed in his trust.

But it had to be in the past now.

It had to be.

7. Mariah Carey – "Touch My Body"

Aly ran her hands up and down Nawat's chiseled, tanned body. It had been so long since she'd seen him last. He had been off spying at Dove's behest and she had been left here with three noisy children and a very, very empty bed.

Nawat shook the raven hair out of his eyes as his lips traced the curve of her neck, running down the length of her chest, exploring every crevice, every nerve ending.

Moaning, Aly dug her fingernails in his back, begging him not to stop.

Lost in each other, neither could think of anywhere else they'd rather be.

8. Buddy Holly – "Words of Love"

"Owen, what are you thinking about?" the pretty, curvaceous girl sitting next to Owen asked sweetly.

"Honestly dear one?" he replied with a sheepish grin on his features. "I was just thinking about how jolly it is to be in love with the most beautiful girl at Court," he finished, intertwining her fingers with his as he took her hand.

Blushing, Margarry replied softly: "I love you too."

9. Roger Creager – "The Everclear Song"

Vania of Conté stared at her reflection in the mirror, not believing that the puffy eyes and mussed hair of the girl looking back belonged to her.

Flinching, the memories started flooding back. She had been at The Singing Maiden with some of her fellow squires when someone – probably her blasted cousin Marc of Naxen – had introduced some clear substance to their pitcher of juice. "Some new grain liquor imported from Tyra," he had said.

All Vania knew was that she had had one glass and ended up fighting some rogue over her honor, and attempting to seduce half the man in the tavern, after which her friends had had to carry her home.

Whatever that invisible intoxicant was, she was going to make damned sure that Daddy had it outlawed.

10. Death Cab for Cutie – "Cath"

Lianne of Conté stood at the altar, unable to believe her misfortune. It had to be a nightmare. Surely, in just a few brief moments she would be awake again.

She could not be standing her next to this man - this man who she did not even know. This man who was 15 years her senior, who smelled like sweat and yesterday's lunch. She was not doing this to appease her family, to fulfill her duty to her kingdom.

She couldn't be.

"So mote it be," the priest's voice rang out in what to her seemed a mocking tone.

Somewhere behind her, a muffled cry could be heard as someone ran out of the chapel. Turning her head, Lianne saw a mop of strawberry blonde hair and a set of broad shoulders before they ducked out a side door.

Stifling her own cry, she turned to the man beside her, to face her future as valiantly as she could while she felt that her entire foundation was crumbling beneath her.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you read, please REVIEW! Also, I personally challenge you to do this; it's an excellent little writing exercise and quite fun, really.**


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